Roses and Royals
by Destinyxo
Summary: Prince Shadow resides in the Kingdom of Mobius, where the castle's people are forbidden to mingle with the general public. Vexed, Shadow escapes. Staying out longer than intended, he unwittingly falls for a shy, poor girl from the village. Will the prince make it back to the castle before it's time to be crowned king? Or will his father cut ties with him before he does? Shadamy.
1. Prologue

_(A/N) Hey, people!_

 _Yes! I am working on **two** stories at once! This doesn't mean I'm giving up on BLU. It will always be my number one priority here on FF. So, I'm still going to work on that. The thing is, I just came up with this amazing idea for another story that I wanted to do SO badly (even though yes, I did get some inspiration from a book I read) so I just couldn't pass that up. Or wait. I have been working on the next chapter for BLU so dw if you were looking forward to reading more of it. I'll try to update both stories on a regular basis. Basically, that means I'm multitasking._

 _Anyways, this is mostly a completely new idea, so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks!_

 _*Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic characters. They belong to Sega©._

* * *

 _Roses and Royals - Prologue_

He stared out of the rectangular palace window with longing as he traced his thumb over the royal grey cement stone walls. Wondering what life was like beyond the gates that enclosed the Royal Kingdom.

Would it hurt to go out there for a day? Just an hour? Would it totally break the rule if he escaped from the castle just for a short experience of the outside world? How ridiculous was it that the kingdom's people weren't allowed to interact with the ordinary people?

Despite being a prince, the foreign black and red hedgehog never got what he wanted. Every day, every year, he had just one wish; and one wish that would never be fulfilled because, frankly, it was against the rules. All he really wanted was to meet the normal people of the world. Have a taste of their freedom.

Freedom has always pertained to his wish.

It was a strict law that the people in the kingdom were not allowed to mingle with the general public. Hence, a large metal gate had been created that separated the boundaries of the castle and the towns of the normals.

This rule had been created centuries before and has never been violated. The king – who was Prince Shadow's biological father - had agreed with preserving such rules in the kingdom as it was before and kept it in continuation.

The only one in all the years of the kingdom's existence who ever tried or wanted to climb over the gate, was the Prince himself. This would subtly anger the king occasionally, but as he always had and will endure to have a strong and loving bond with his son, he would wave it away as just a small phase that would soon be forgotten for the young prince.

However, said prince could never abide by the law, and continuously tried various creative methods to get over the gate. It just never happened. Even as his 'sensible' cousin, Sonic, constantly tried to 'talk sense' into him and tell him it was for the best that he doesn't attempt to break the rule, the ebony prince was nevertheless persistent on climbing over.

He shifted slowly and rested his back furthur into the window seat that was attached to the window itself, there for anyone to sit on and read a book or just think. Thoughts flooded his mind as he desperately tried to figure out a way to climb over the gate. He didn't care if his family would hate him after all of it. He didn't care if his name would bring them shame and anger. He didn't care if they made the decision of disowning him in the future.

While deeply studying the nature and beauty emanating from the outside world of the other side of the window, Shadow wondered if life would ever be the same if he truly escaped. Would his family take him back? What if they didn't?

 _"I can work with that. If my family cannot respect my decisions and choices as a future role modeling figure, I should be able to reciprocate. There is no reason that I should go ahead with the procession of becoming the next king."_

He loved his family dearly, yet his love and care for them would not get in the way of his greater inclination to pay attention to his actual life and adventuring. The things he did best.

He would give anything just for a day of true happiness.

It didn't mean he didn't love his family.

But all he desired was freedom.

Something his parents could never give him.

* * *

 _(A/N) Here we are! The first (ish) chapter of_ Roses and Royals _. Chapter 1 will be up soon. Don't forget to R &R! :)_


	2. Chapter 1: First Attempts

**AN:** New chapter! Sorry for extremely late update, crap! I was soo busy these past couple of months. Plus, I had to organize and rearrange all my ideas for this story.

Ages:

 **Sonic: 24**

 **Shadow: 23**

 **Amy: 19 (soon to be 20)**

All I have for now. If other characters appear later on in the story – which I'm pretty sure will, I'll add their ages as the story goes on. Also, I'm keeping the OC's to a bare minimum – at most, I just used a couple for some of the kings and queens. I did find though, that Charles (Chuck) was Jules' brother (comics) and Sonic's uncle which would make him Shadow's father, but it didn't seem suitable to me in this story so I just made his parents up. (Also, the King Charles in this story is NOT the Charles/Chuck from the comics, so do not confuse the two!) Anyways, I TALK too much, enjoy the chapter!

 _*Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic characters. They are owned by Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: First Attempts**

"Shadow."

Upon hearing his name, the ebony prince jumped off of the large gate and pulled the rope that was connected to him and around a nearby pillar down. He twisted around to see who had called him. It was no surprise to know that it was none other than his carefree cousin, Sonic, with a disappointed look visible across his face.

"Yes?" Shadow asked, dusting off the dirt that had accumulated on his clothes.

The cerulean prince crossed his arms as he assisted him in removing the rope tied around his waist.

"This is the third time today you have tried climbing over that gate."

His gaze was fixated on Shadow, and the prince kept his eye contact.

Shadow looked back at the gate behind the duo, and then returned his glance to Sonic.

He sighed in agitation. "I know. What do you wish to tell me now?"

It was true. The young prince had endeavored to get over the gate three times on that very day, and Sonic had caught him every time. After each attempt, the blue blur would give him an indifferent lecture that he was getting quite tired of hearing. However, it didn't stop him from trying repeatedly.

"Shadow, I care about you, all of us do. I know it's one of your greatest desires to climb over that gate, but it's just going to make you even more disheartened every time you try," Sonic pointed out with a shake of his head. "I know you don't want to keep hearing this, but please, just be wise on this. No one has ever attempted to get out of the castle in all the years of its existence!"

The prince shot him a glare. So what if no one else wanted the same thing he did? He wasn't going to be like them and stay locked up inside a kingdom forever. Didn't freedom have a meaning, ever? Better yet, did it even exist in the castle? How ironic.

He knew people would kill to live the rich, royal life he was living, but they didn't know how exasperating it really was.

They thought it was all fun and flowers. They only wanted to live that life because it looked great on the outside. On the inside, well… no one could be more wrong about how life was really like in the kingdom.

"While I agree with you on many terms," Shadow answered as calmly as he could, "It doesn't mean I will ever give up. It doesn't matter to me what the people of the past would say about this, I'm not them. It's likely they just haven't acquired enough courage or perseverance, as I have."

The royal blue hedgehog held himself from rolling his eyes. It was SO difficult to try to get the persistent hedgehog to change his mind.

It began to give him some doubts. The king himself had asked Sonic to keep an eye on his son, and if anything, to get him to change his wish and get over his silly dream of experiencing the outside world.

"-Shadow, I have a question."

The dark prince looked back. "Yes?"

Sonic placed a hand on his head as he tilted it to his left. "You have a chaos emerald, couldn't you have just chaos controlled to the other side?" he muttered.

He tried to choose his words carefully. He didn't want to give Shadow any ideas, but at the same time he was genuinely curious at how secure the gate really was.

Shadow blinked. "Tried that. It didn't work."

"It didn't?"

"No."

"How about chaos spear?"

"That didn't work either."

"Chaos blast?"

"No. None of the chaos powers work against the gate."

"Chaos… Rift?" Sonic suggested.

"No, Sonic, how would that even work?!" Shadow retorted with an exasperating sigh. "Why does this matter to you anyway?"

"No reason…"

Sonic bit on his gloves as he thought anxiously. It was clear that the ebony hedgehog was more than just determined on getting over that gate, which made his task harder.

Whatever was he to tell the king?

 _-FLASHBACK:-_

 _"Forgive me for this disturbance, my dear nephew," the king commented as he noticed the blue hedgehog entering the royal room._

 _Sonic looked up and smiled warmly at his uncle. "It's not a problem, your majesty. May I ask why you have summoned me here?"_

 _The king's dimmed expression turned to a sharper look._

 _"Ah, yes, well you see, it's about my son, Shadow. I would like to give you a task; will you complete it for me?"_

 _The blue hedgehog relaxed at the mention of Shadow's name. He already had a good understanding of what the conversation was going to be about._

 _"Anything, your highness."_

 _"Yes well, these days he's been more, prone to his, um, desire, leaving the kingdom. I'm not too fond of that so what I am asking of you is to keep an eye on him in case he chooses to do something about it. Please, do try to change his mind on the whole matter. Open up his eyes a little bit. He is still a bit young to understand, the eternal world is a dangerous place. He mustn't go there. Can I trust you to do this for me?" the king asked in a sincere tone. "I only wish the best for my son. I know you are very mature and would do anything on account of Shadow. You know I love you both dearly."_

 _Sonic nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I pledge to bring your son back to sanity if it's the last thing I do," he obliged as the king emitted a low chuckle. "You can trust me with this task."_

 _He then knelt down and bowed._

 _"I do hope you'll return with a positive response."_

 _"I promise."_

 _"You may go."_

 _"Thank you, your majesty," Sonic acknowledged and left the room._

 _-END OF FLASHBACK-_

Little did the king know Shadow _was_ doing something about it. Now, anyway.

He did have the dream, but it was strange to see Shadow hadn't acted upon it as much as he had on this day.

Yet now, it was rare to see him trying to do anything else.

Sonic decided to keep his mouth shut. He may have been on his uncle's side on the matter, but that didn't mean he would go rat his cousin out or anything. If anything, he wanted to see how far the Ultimate Life Form would go about it all.

Sonic trusted Shadow, and so he received the same trust back. He worried about him, but he would never do anything to defy him.

Yet…

It certainly wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. He bit his lip nervously at the thought. Who even knew? There was a big possibility the dark prince would actually succeed in his doings tonight. Even Sonic never saw him try so hard in his life for anything.

And he knew the prince never gave up until he got it done.

At this point, he could only sigh and allow Shadow to slip back to reality by himself. All he needed now was patience, even if it was hard to acquire.

Sighing, he slowly walked over and placed a hand gently on his cousin's shoulder.

"Believe me when I say this, I understand what you mean, Shadow. Now, I can't force you on what decisions to make but I can make the strong suggestion. It's your life; do what you want. Who am I to tell you what to do? After all, it's been the, what, third time I've caught you today? And look, you're still trying. So, go for it, Shads!" he mused a little too cheerfully.

Shadow flinched at the warm touch of Sonic's hand, and immediately removed it. He peered at him suspiciously before nodding. Despite the apparent kind words, the prince caught the hint of sarcasm in his statement. But whatever, it wasn't going to stop him from doing what he wanted to.

"Don't try this with me. I know what you're up to. You're always on my father's side, why should I trust you now?"

"Because I'm not _devoted_ to any certain person, like some people are. I look at everybody's perspective. I help everyone. He is the king, and my uncle, yes, but you are my cousin and I can see a friend in you. Hey, my companionship with you doesn't change under the king's behest!" Sonic fulminated.

"Hmph," Shadow waved him off and started his way back to the castle, which was about five blocks away.

He took one last glance at his speedy cousin, who was now wearing a childish smile on his face once again.

"Hey, you'll be an amazing role model one day! Maybe you can teach my children," Sonic grinned.

Shadow couldn't help but roll his eyes massively.

"That escalated quickly," he called out in annoyance as he continued his way back.

This did not stop his annoying counterpart from making stupid jokes as he went.

"Whatever you say, Ultimate _Quitter_ ," he quipped when he realized his attempts to annoy the Ultimate Life Form was to no avail.

Shadow didn't stop walking but turned around so he faced Sonic as he walked backwards. He narrowed his eyes at him, "What did you say?"

 _"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that."_

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he said quite quickly. _'Changing attitudes so quickly for some reason…'_

What was he doing? He was supposed to be changing Shadow's mind; deterring him, not making him even more determined on accomplishing his goal.

…Right?

 _Whatever._

 _….It's a free country._

* * *

 **2 days later**

Sitting on the edge of the navy blue coloured grand king sized bed, Shadow thought to himself as he removed his shoes.

"Today's the day. I am going to find a way to get over that gate at all costs by tonight. I'm not holding back any longer."

He sighed, knowing how ludicrous that sounded. 'I just need to relax,' he told himself.

 _"Yet how can I, when all these emotions are coming forth at the same time? It's like they were just waiting to burst out of my body. I want to take a dose of the outside world so bad it hurts.'_

Seated on the navy blue bed sheets in a corner of his bed, Shadow glanced up in the direction of his window. Outside was almost dark as night; with glowing embers of orange in the horizon. It was evening slowly transitioning into night.

He was interrupted from his trance when he heard a knock on the door.

"Prince Shadow," a voice called out.

The ebony hedgehog didn't look away from the window. "Come in."

Two grand doors were heard opening then closing.

"Shadow. The King and Queen have requested that I escort you down to dinner," the blue hedgehog told him.

The Ultimate Lifeform turned to face the blue speedster. "Now?"

His strong ruby gaze was a tad bit uncomfortable for the cerulean prince.

"Yes. We have a guest over from the Kingdom of Knothole," he responded.

"Kingdom of Knothole?" Shadow repeated. "Why wasn't I informed of this beforehand?"

"I'm not sure, Shadow. I wasn't informed either. But let's get going now; he is really eager to see you."

"Who is it?" he questioned.

"Why, it's the king himself."

Shadow nodded with accolade. "You go on ahead. I'll be down in a minute or so."

Sonic obliged with a small bow and sauntered out of the room.

As he left, Shadow returned his glance to the glowing sky outdoors.

* * *

"That must be him," King William gestured to the grand staircase as footsteps were heard making their way down.

Turning to meet the eyes of a seemingly younger version of himself, the king of Knothole smiled.

Shadow approached the table slowly, all the while feeling intimidated by all the long gazes casted at him from the table. He took a seat across from Sonic, who winked at him.

He sat uncomfortably beside his father.

Blue eyes stared icily at glowing red ones.

"Oh, um, yes," the prince began uneasily. "Welcome, King Charles. It really is very nice to see you here in Mobius again."

Not meeting the king's eyes.

King Charles noticed this but kept quiet.

"How are you, son? You sure have grown since I've seen you last. Maybe about 7 or 8 years? Chaos, it has been so long. Just look at you," he chuckled.

It was true. The last time the fellow king had seen the prince was when he was about 15. Shadow recalled himself as being the young and naïve one. Sonic had always been the more mature person from the two. _(Isn't this kind of reversed? lol)_ It made him hate his past even more. The thought of being young just sounded like being a stupid child who has no idea about the depths of the world to the dark prince.

He wanted to rid his memory of his childhood. It sickened him to say the least. He was like an entire different person.

He remembered how the king would make many scheduled visits to the Kingdom of Mobius, and how he got to see him frequently. He would bring sweets and candy for Sonic and assorted books for Shadow; every day the dark hedgehog would anticipate his visit to find another book to read and look through, since he was just a young child.

 _-FLASHBACK -_

13 years ago..

 _"He's here!" the blue hedgehog beamed, blowing air onto the cold frosted window and swiping on it to make the view clearer. "Shadow, look!"_

 _Shadow's gaze shot up from his book he was reading, looking towards his cousin. "Who is?"_

 _Sonic grinned and strode towards him, so he was face to face with the young dark prince._

 _"Why, it's the king of Knothole! He's here! And I see he's brought a lot of stuff today!" he exclaimed, jumping up and about with a broad smile plastered across his face._

 _Shadow placed a bookmark in his page of the book and shut it and ambled towards the window._

 _"He really is…" he breathed._

 _It was true. Outside the window, the pair could see a small carriage and two big, strong looking men talking outside of it. One of the men was King Charles himself, and, as expected, he carried three big boxes in his arms. He was dressed very formally - all dark red with gold. He looked like a real king._

 _Shadow watched as he said something to the coachman slowly and casually before making his way to the kingdom doors._

 _The prince felt a shaking movement on his hand. The hedgehog looked up to see an excited Sonic._

 _"Come, now," he said, pulling his arm. "Let's go see him."_

 _The two ran downstairs to meet a very happy looking King._

 _"King Charles!" Sonic raced over to him and held his hand, while the king's other struggled on holding the gifts._

 _Shadow mimicked his actions and strolled towards the king. "How are you doing? Did you bring –"_

 _"Good lord. You boys are a piece of work. And yes, little Shadow, I did. Your favourite author! As for you, Sonic, I brought you your favourite candy, produced from Knothole itself," King Charles smiled and let go of Sonic's hand._

 _Sonic and Shadow looked to each other with small smirks. "Is that why you're here? You seem so happy," Shadow mused._

 _The king chuckled. "Well, I brought you two what you usually want, but sadly, I'm not here for that reason. Where's your father, Shadow?"_

 _The dark prince looked to him in surprise. "He's up in his study. Why do you need to see him? Is it important?"_

 _Sonic looked to Charles eagerly. "No, no, it's not. Just wanted to discuss something, is all," the king replied as he left the presents on the nearby table. "Take these. I'll see you in a bit…" was all he said as he walked past._

 _As he walked by, Sonic glanced at his cousin. "That was fast."_

 _"It was," Shadow nodded in agreement. "I don't think it's anything we need to worry about," he dismissed. "He loves to talk with my father, it's nothing new."_

 _"I guess you're right. Let's open the gifts?" Sonic suggested meekly._

 _The dark hedgehog nodded as he took Sonic's arm and sauntered to the table to see what new things awaited them._

 _-END OF FLASHBACK-_

And one day, the king came with a file of papers, and didn't say a word to anyone as he went to meet Shadow's father. Shadow recalled the day; King Charles had a look of depression throughout the visit.

He would watch him exit the kingdom with the papers still in hand, talk to the coachman for a few minutes and get in the carriage.

And just like that, the visits stopped.

Shadow remembered him and King Charles having an odd bond of sorts… yet now, they seemed so distanced. So many things had changed over the years.

Shadow held back the knots in his stomach; suddenly he was feeling very queasy.

He knew not to question the king. As of now, he figured out why he had quit coming to meet his father, his cousin and him.

Shadow reciprocated the smile lowly. He finally looked up to see a tall, handsome, maroon male hedgehog sitting promptly against the tall kingdom chair with a smug smile. He looked about the same as he did all those years back, except for a few minor differences that came with age.

The only major difference was that his face was slightly paler; more lifeless than it had looked before. The dark prince wondered how it was possible. He felt a little guilty, too.

King William clanked his glass against the large white table as his eyes darted between the two in anticipation.

"I… uh, yes. It sure has. How is your family doing, if I may ask?" asked Shadow with genuine curiosity.

He knew about the king's past tragic circumstances and wanted to know how he was coming along. Without, of course, openly articulating the appalling events.

Sonic and Shadow could vaguely see the color drain from his face.

Shadow bit his lip. It might not have been a good idea to speak in the first place.

"They're fine. We all are. I got a little bored of the atmosphere, you know. So I decided to give you people a quick visit," he droned with a mere shrug.

Shadow's father continued to eye him and prepared to say something but was cut off by his older nephew.

"A quick visit? Why leave so soon?" The cerulean male questioned as all the other people present at dinner chatted about other topics, not paying attention to the four.

"I-"

"-Really, Charles, on account of your family, I was wondering how you're doing…," King William interrupted. "With… your daughter?" He said this last part quieter, but everyone had heard it.

Sonic snapped to meet his gaze while Shadow glared daggers at his father.

All the heads at the table turned to King Charles to hear his reply intently.

Loud whispers were heard and it was obvious everyone was anticipating the King of Knothole's answer.

The maroon colored hedgehog's face fell. It had turned even paler than it already was and his expression became somewhat emotionless – the look the royal family knew all too well.

If there was anything the people in the palace knew of clearly, it was not to bring up King Charles' daughter when he was around. Everyone knew that.

So to see the King of Mobius just address the topic so suddenly and with such ease, was a shocker to everyone.

Yet it made them more anxious to see what the maroon leader was going to say about it.

"She-… We-… I don't know, William. I miss her, I really do. You know a father's love for his daughter. I just… I wish I could see her, just one last time… One last time," answered the king, whose eyes were turning wet around the corners.

"How saddening," he sympathized. "I do wish there was something we could do about it."

Shadow kneed him gently from under the table and shot him a look as if to say, _That's enough, father. He doesn't need to go through this again._

The older black hedgehog twisted to see his son. He returned a stern look that responded, _I am your father. And this is no way to treat the king. I know what I am doing- stay out of it if you know what's best._

The dark prince averted his glance with a little "hmph".

"Yes, as do I. Alas, there is nothing we can do. I've looked for many years. There's no sign of her."

"Your majesty, there is a chance she could still be, you know… alive. Maybe we can still find her," Sonic piped up.

He was always taught to be positive and see the bright side of things, but even Shadow knew it was bull. His point was proven when he heard the king's response.

"Alive? Find her? Ah, I appreciate the thought, son. But do you know? I've looked for her for 7 years, Sonic, _7 years_. I sent some of my best men to search for her. If nothing came up then, then I doubt something will now," the king spat.

At hearing this, all the heads turned away. The discussion wasn't so interesting anymore.

Sonic stood his ground. "But she wasn't proclaimed dead, was she? This means good news! She could have been hidden away with new people for all we kn-"

"That's enough, dear nephew," King William interjected with a fake smile. "We know nothing of the sort is possible. You know my nephew, Charles," he gestured to Sonic. "Just like his father Jules. Always positive. Please excuse him."

"Yes, yes. He's good; that man."

"He is."

Charles flipped his attention back to Shadow.

"About you! How are you holding up now? In your twenties now, correct?" He motioned to the hedgehog seated diagonally from him.

He nodded as he took a sip of water from his glass.

The king leant in closer. It was close enough that Shadow could feel his breathing patterns. "You planning on getting hitched soon, son?"

Shadow spat the water out onto the table.

He could just hear Sonic's laughter ringing out in the distance. It seemed far away, but it didn't matter. Shadow wanted to backhand slap Sonic on the side of the face.

The dark prince looked up. "Um, excuse me," he said as he grabbed the napkin and cleared the mess, eyeing the King of Knothole while doing so. "That's not happening anytime soon, actually."

His father chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, he is getting old quite fast. Victoria and I certainly can't say yet."

For the first time, the elegant white hedgehog sitting on the other side of Shadow turned to the sound of her name and smiled. She didn't know exactly what the trio was talking about, but hearing the words 'twenties', 'hitched' and 'old' gave her a small idea.

"Yes, he is getting older," she concurred. "But his mind is always somewhere else. Marriage is doubtless the last thing going on in there at this moment."

The maroon leader leant back on the chair and smiled broadly. "So… no marriage. But, there a must be a girl in your life, then."

Shadow tried to contain himself from making any regrettable movements. "There isn't. There likely won't be for a long time. I'm not interested in women."

Meanwhile, the blue blur across from the Ultimate Life form struggled to keep his laughter in as he bit his lip hard. He realized it was funnier to him seeing as he knew his cousin very well; and seeing him around women wasn't a particular sight he'd see every day. Especially since Shadow was always so caught up in trying to find the external world.

Shadow noticed this and stepped on his foot from under the table, causing Sonic to grunt loudly; and both kings swung to glance at him. King William gave the cerulean hedgehog a disapproving look.

Sonic yanked his foot back and glared.

"Hmm… that's odd for a prince your age. I don't see why. Any woman would come to you with arms flailing. You've definitely got the looks and personality," Charles mused, as Shadow's parents held their heads high with proud looks as if to say, _That's our son. He's inherited it all from us._

Sonic silently agreed. He did know this one thing. Shadow was, to say the least, quite attractive - as was the royal blue hedgehog - to most people. Whenever they were out or at public hearings, Sonic would notice all the longing looks of the young women who seemed to be head over heels for the mysterious young hedgehog. There was no denying it, Shadow was good looking.

As for personality?

Sonic smiled in thought, looking over to the Ultimate Life form who was fumbling with his fork. "Well. No girl. No drama," he mumbled.

Shadow would sacrifice his life for someone else in a split second without a second thought. He had a heart of gold, and he could be seen as the knight in shining armor. There were many good qualities about him.

Charles nodded and turned to converse with the king himself. About life in the kingdom, how his family was doing, what he was planning on talking about in the public speech coming up regarding the new water source he was installing for the servants.

Shadow left the adults to chat as he quietly zoned out of the conversation. He didn't realize it but his gaze kept creeping over to the large translucent window at the right, with larger red curtains draped over it. It was time of night, and that gave him an idea.

 _The gate?_

He figured one more time wouldn't hurt. Just one last time for a long while.

After all, he had only ever tried thrice in his life.

Everyone would be preoccupied with dinner. So why not?

He glanced back and realized Sonic was staring right at him. He looked down, then back at him. Still staring.

They stared at each other for approximately 10 seconds, before Sonic _coughed._

 _"Do it,"_ he urged meekly. Shadow looked at him confused.

"You think I should?" he whispered, to which the blue blur nodded hastily.

Surprise washed over the hedgehog but he chose to wave it away.

It wasn't new for Sonic to change his mind repeatedly anyway.

"Excuse me," Shadow pardoned himself as he left his utensils in their designated areas and stood up. All eyes on the table peered at him.

"You're leaving? Are you not hungry, darling?" Queen Victoria asked hurriedly, motioning to his unfinished meal.

"I-" he paused to take a glimpse at Sonic's face, which held a cheesy grin. He flashed thumbs up before anyone could notice.

"-I have… some unfinished business to take care of. You go on ahead. Enjoy the evening."

"You're going to miss dessert. We have this delicious apple-vanilla soufflé."

"That's fine. I'll pass."

"Well, alright," she replied warily, not so impressed. She blinked her long eyelashes before returning her attention to the guests at hand. Sonic winked.

Shadow looked back as he left. The dinner table looked so… _normal_. So full of life. So full of excitement and chatter. It was just like a picture.

A picture that you'd find in a question in a math textbook. It was just so… ordinary.

Everything that Shadow did not like.

He couldn't stand the normality of everything. He thrived to see something extraordinary. Something strange, yet exciting. Something that would send shivers up a body. But… to want such a thing, would make him so different from the others. They seemed to be perfectly content with whatever took place. It was so unnerving for the prince.

Shadow looked down for a split second. _'I'm not like them.'_

* * *

Shadow trudged along the pathways that led to the big gate. It was still sort of far away, but he could see the lining of the large, metallic pillars that held it together, so he knew it wasn't that much longer until he got there.

"I should've brought my emerald," he mumbled to himself gruffly. If he had it, he would've been at the gate in seconds. So much time would have been saved.

He continued along the way until he approached the gate. Shadow had to glance up to note its full height.

He hummed thoughtfully to himself. "There must be something I could do to get over…"

He reached up and placed his right hand over a grey stone as he clasped his left on one of the pillars.

"Like… say there was an emergency, and everyone had to evacuate the kingdom. There's likely a much easier way to work this thing," he wondered aloud.

The dark prince pulled his arms down.

He stepped back down the threshold and placed two fingers on his chin.

"Hmm…"

Shifting, he picked up the long twisted coil of rope that he left on one side of the gate and unrolled it. Holding one end tightly with his hand, Shadow tied the other side tight on the right pillar. He spun it a few times.

Letting go for a second, he looked for little pieces that stuck out of the gate which he could hold onto.

He grabbed one and pulled the rope back down, so it was secured in place.

That was when he noticed the tied end of the rope slowly unraveling, and his eyes widened.

The Ultimate Life form grasped the piece sticking out tightly and let the rest of his body slide down.

As he descended, he felt something weird on the corner of the gate, next to the pillar on the right end.

His fingers lightly grazed over something metal that felt like a slot. Or…. A keyhole?

"What?" he muttered in disbelief.

 _The gate opens?_

"Of course. If I can't get over it, certainly I can go _through_ it. What closes, opens, does it not?" he face palmed. "All this time…"

All that work for nothing. If there was a hole, there was most definitely a key somewhere.

And what better place to hide an important key than in the most private chambers in a kingdom?

The king and queen's bedroom.

The dark prince smirked subtly to himself.

 _Too easy._

* * *

"Where…"

Prince Shadow had silently entered the royal bedroom without being seen. He now had the emerald with him; after sneakily striding up to his bedroom and strolling back. He had run into one of the servants on the way – a young rabbit - resulting in all her novelties crashing down.

He felt bad about bumping into her, because he noticed the fine knit work that had fallen on the ground; and clearly, she had worked hard on them. He apologized politely, picked up all of her work and handed it back to her before speeding off once more.

Of course, the cream colored rabbit felt confused and wondered where the prince was off to at such an hour.

Shadow exhaled at the memory while rummaging through the drawers near the large velvety made bed. He just had to find that key. No matter what it took.

After a few minutes of searching, he came up with a small, bronze key. It didn't look like it matched the keyhole on the gate, but Shadow figured it would be useful for something; so he kept it in his pocket for now.

After a long sigh of disappointment that the real key was not in any of the drawers, the prince stood up and glanced around the room; it was quite big, who knew how long it would take to find it!

Shadow collapsed back onto the king and queen's bed in exasperation.

He then realized he had never really seen his father's room before. It was like walking into a new home that someone had just moved to. It was so… new.

Shadow looked to one of the walls. There was an unusual design on one of them, painted dark royal blue. He looked to another; this one was plain, no design. It was painted a deep red. Then there was the third one, only this one peaked Shadow's interest.

It was just like the first wall; dark blue, but instead of a design, there was a large painting – it was of the royal family. The King and Queen were on the top corners and Shadow in the middle – all three of them with shining crowns on their heads.

The hedgehog tilted his head to see it better. There was a long golden nail pointing outwards on the top of the painting, about to fall out.

Shadow narrowed his eyes in confusion.

 _Wait a minute…_

He jerked up in bed and stared at the painting. His lips curved up into a small smile.

 _…Oh._

* * *

Shadow stood near the gate with a smug look on his face, dangling the key in his hands. He was so very close to gaining freedom, achieving the life he's always craved.

And it wasn't even difficult. It took the dark hedgehog 3 days at max to finally find a way out.

 _'So much for a gate that's been closed for hundreds of years.'_

Once again, he placed his hands over the corner ledge of the gate, feeling around to find the keyhole.

As his fingers grazed the excruciatingly rougher surface, Shadow moved back a little and peered at the large, silver key for a long moment before lifting it up and casually inserting it inside the hole.

There was a loud click followed by a raucous grumble and the ground started to shake vigorously beneath the dark prince.

Shadow stepped back, admiring the blooming view before him in mere satisfaction.

 _'At long last…'_ he thought breathlessly, his ears folding back watching the gate slowly begin to open.

* * *

 _*CREEEEAAAAKKKK*_

The boisterous creak was all it took for the king and queen to jolt up in their slumber, startled.

"Is that… do you hear that?" the perturbed queen Victoria asked her husband while rubbing her temples wearily. He, on the other hand, was now sitting up in the bed, alert.

The king turned to face the queen with alarm. "My, that sounds quite like the-"

"-Kingdom gate!" she exclaimed with consternation laced in her tone, now at full attention.

It was at this point where King William's jaw dropped.

"Our son… he… he couldn't have, right? He wouldn't do this…. right, love? He knows better," he said, more or less to himself, which came out as a panicky whisper. "He can't go there! The world is a dangerous place, and it's nowhere suitable for someone like my son!"

Sure, the young prince never gave up on his dream of seeing the external world, and would always talk about getting over the gate. But never did his father think he would actually do it! Oh, how he had doubted his own son. Of course he would follow in his father's footsteps.

The king never gave up himself, especially when he was a young boy and his interests peaked.

"He wouldn't… He would never do this… He'd heed my words… He'd never try to run away from the palace..."

Victoria gave him a look of which he turned away.

"He's _your_ son!"

The king let out a single "hmph".

"Quick, check the safe! See if the gate's key is still there!" she hollered as she ripped the bed sheets away and sauntered over to the palace window. She shielded her eyes so she could see through it better, even though it was night time and a few stars were visible.

The king sprang up and rushed to a corner of one of the walls. A large painting with golden borders rested there – the family painting.

Moving it aside, he gently blew on the bare wall until a shade of navy blue with the family crest on it was visible. Then he brushed some of the dust off with his gloved hand until the full face of a big metal safe was seen. Silently praying to himself, he attempted to open it.

"Do Not Even Think About It," he said smugly against the door.

He waited for a couple of seconds before the screen turned red. His face fell.

"Incorrect passcode. Try again."

The queen looked to her husband with disgust. "Really? _That's_ the password you chose?"

He coughed nervously. "It seemed… appropriate at the time," he countered, eyeing her.

The queen rolled her blue eyes.

Huffing, he tried once more.

"Open Sesame!"

Wrong again.

This time, he avoided his queen's glare.

Wait…

King William's mind swirled as questions and memories came through.

 _'If my son has intelligently cracked open the code, chances are, there is a connection of this phrase that has to do with our father-son relationship.'_

It wasn't unusual to not remember the code. The safe hadn't been opened in YEARS.

But then again….

 _'I got it!_

 _I used to tell Shadow only one thing to remember as time went by:_

 _Every rose has its' thorns.'_

It was a metaphor for life, but knowing Shadow, he would interpret it in different ways.

 _'But that's only because he is a different individual… unique. He always has an open mindset…_

 _… the password has to be coordinating with that terminology .'_

"Yes… That must be right," he muttered under his breath as he knelt down to give it a final try.

Suddenly, it came to him.

He cleared his throat.

"The Rose without Thorns," he said out loud.

The king held his breath and waited.

 _-Click-_

The screen turned green.

"Access granted."

"Phew," he sweat-dropped and used his fingers to slowly twist the dials on the lock inside.

That opened, too.

I should've changed the lock pass code. _This one is too easy…_ King William thought to himself.

Queen Victoria glanced at the king with a raised eyebrow. "So…?"

He opened the glass case with a key that he pulled out from one of the drawers of his nightstand and peered inside with an anxious look. He held his head back as he heard the queen's foot tapping on the ground impatiently.

Gulping, he looked back to his wife. Then back to the safe.

She followed his gaze slowly.

He shook his head in dismay.

"It's not there."

* * *

 **AN:** If you liked it, please review!


	3. Chapter 2: Such Beauty

**A/N:** For the people who were genuinely interested in this story - I know it's been forever. I _was_ planning on discontinuing this. But when I came back to it, something sparked, I guess. I have a lot of ideas for this story so I'm not ready to let go of it. I _do_ have another story that I'm currently working on (like I've said one too many times) but that one is going to be fully pre-written before I upload it to the site. Since I'm still writing Roses and Royals, though, you can expect to see an update in less time, lol.

Also - there are cliches in this! I know some of them are overused but in this case they just really add to the story, haha.

 _*I do not own the Sonic characters. They are owned_ by _Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Such Beauty**

Shadow stood directly in front of the gate, mouth hanging slightly.

It was just more _trees._

Trees, forestry. And it seemed to drag on for another mile or so, from what the onyx hedgehog could see.

"Well, it would be ridiculous if the gate opened and the city was right outside. It makes sense for the kingdom to be in a secluded area," he mumbled more or less to himself, dusting himself off before hurling his way forward between the trees.

But only about three seconds after Shadow had begun his journey, an alarm sounded off, blaring in the distance, signaling a lockdown about to occur in the kingdom. " _Shoot,'_ he panicked as he continued running, leaving a trail behind him as he went. ' _They must be looking for me.'_

The hedgehog took the alarm as a sign to move faster, and so he did just that.

He used all the power he could muster in his legs to run as far away from the gate and kingdom as he possibly could. If one were to stand and watch, they would simply see a black blur with hints of red swish past them in a split second.

* * *

"Guards! Someone get me Sir Gawain immediately!" the King bellowed in panicking fury as he hustled about the kingdom, worrying for his disobedient son's safety. His wife, Queen Victoria stayed by his side as he did.

With his command, a row of guards appeared before the king, interrupting him mid-step. A red echidna in metal armour arrived just as quick, stepping in between the guards.

"Your majesty," he bowed with respect, kneeling before the King in the massive courtroom. "You have requested my presence?"

"Yes," the sovereign grunted in response, unable to hide his annoyance with his son. "As you all know, my son Shadow has managed to unlock the gate that leads to the outside world," he grimaced, motioning to the alarms sounding off in the kingdom. "The castle is under lockdown effective immediately, but I need you to take some of my strongest knights with you and arrange a search party to find him and bring him back here. Immediately."

The knight nodded, lifting himself up. "Sire, you have my word that Prince Shadow will be located and returned to the kingdom safely," he promised, preparing himself to leave the King's presence before he spoke up once more.

"And Sir Gawain?"

"Yes, your majesty?" the echidna turned around to face King William once more.

"Calculate the distance from the kingdom's gate to the nearest city that harbors it, and inform me right away," the royal hedgehog heaved, rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

Sir Gawain looked at the King thoughtfully. "Well, that would be about 9 hours, Sire. If I'm not mistaken, the forestry ends at the tip of Station Square," he answered, pulling his metal helmet down.

' _Hmm… that_ should _buy us some time, then. Shadow can't be too far_ …' the King considered, before ushering the knight away and contemplating what to do next.

* * *

It had been a few hours before the onyx hedgehog realized the trees and forestry were not coming to an end. In all honesty, he was growing quite tired, but his determination and stubbornness were holding him back from taking any breaks.

Unsure of what to do, he halted in his path, causing his form to jerk against the ground.

' _But I can't rest,_ ' he groaned to himself internally, ' _Knowing my father, he'll have already warranted a search party for me. They'll find me.'_

He was having trouble pondering whether or not he should take a quick nap. After a minute or two, he sighed.

Caving, he decided to get a couple hours of shut-eye before continuing his journey through the forest. There were so many trees, but Shadow noticed one bulky-looking one in particular that caught his eye. It was bunched up between two other trees, and was a pretty good hiding spot.

He trudged his way towards it, settling down at the bottom and leaned against the bark, legs arched up with his hands nestled in his lap. His eyes slowly closed in on themselves and his mind began to empty itself for the next few hours…

* * *

It was broad daylight and the young prince had jolted awake at the very crack of dawn to continue pursuing his journey. It took the hedgehog about four hours until he saw any sort of opening to anywhere _not_ a forest.

At the four hour point, the prince noticed a small opening to the city through some trees. Dubious of himself, he inched towards the trees and shoved them aside, eyes widening as he took in his new environment. He immediately shielded them as the glare of the sunlight hit them directly.

It looked to be an opening to a small urban city, but highly populated. _Very_ different than what Shadow had been used to growing up. The ground was made of cement bricks, a pattern following through the entire surface. There were little strip stores lined across the street, and many people standing underneath big shady umbrellas as they picked up their groceries. More people scoured through the streets, getting on buses or getting off trains. Shadow had never seen such vehicles in his life, though he _had_ known about them.

Other than the stores, there were tall buildings that each held up the flag of the United Federation. There was music playing somewhere off in the distance, but it was quite distinct to the young prince's ears.

What really caught the hedgehog's attention, though, was the giant fountain set in the middle of the city. It was shaped beautifully, a little dove made from stone resting on the top as water poured from three different spouts. It was quite remarkable, to say the least, and reminded him much of the fountain he had in the garden back home at the castle.

The prince was interrupted in his thoughts when he felt something collide with his arm, causing him to jump back slightly.

"Hey, watch it, dude!" a purple weasel scowled, recovering his head from the impact and rubbed. "This is Station Square! You'd better watch where you're goin'. And you definitely ain't getting nowhere lookin' like that," he sneered, walking directly past the black hedgehog.

The sentence caused Shadow's gaze to shoot down to his outfit in confusion.

"What's wrong with this?" he murmured to no one in particular, running his hand through his vest that was outlined in gold pellets and had a gold sash running through the middle. Shrugging, he averted his attention to the store signs.

He noticed one that said nothing but _Station Square_ on the board hanging above the store itself. A few nails were missing, which in turn, caused the board to hang down slightly.

' _Well, that's where I am,'_ he considered thoughtfully. ' _Station Square.'_

Warily, Shadow made his way into the store.

Truth be told, he had never been grocery shopping before - or any shopping, for that matter. Usually the goods had been imported to his kingdom, and the food and fruit was just always there, brought and made by the many servants he had encountered in his lifetime.

When he entered, he was completely washed over with amazement.

There were so many people. Hustling about, minding their own business, getting whatever they needed and leaving.

But there was so much fruit! Aisles and aisles of different kinds of fruits and vegetables, even ones that Shadow had not seen before.

To any normal person, it would just look like a normal fruits and vegetable section of a grocery store. Which, of course, it was.

But the prince had never seen such a thing. Everything was handed to him on a silver platter - metaphorically, yet also literally. Anything that was common to the general public - was new to the onyx hedgehog.

Shadow glanced around, approaching a pile of peaches in a corner while ignoring the gaping looks he was getting from people - most of them women. He picked one up and studied it, before putting it back down in its basket.

He rolled his eyes as he picked up on some of the hushed whispers coming from the young women behind him.

"Do you think that's real _gold?"_

"Obviously _not_ , Nicole. It's probably just some costume."

"But why would you wear a costume to a grocery store? It looks so authentic."

"Doubt it. Look at those seams-"

"Well, who cares if it's not? He's ridiculously hot."

Shadow sighed, realizing he wasn't in his kingdom, or around people who were used to the types of outfits the kingdom's people wore. It was only natural that the outsiders were confused on his attire. Their dressing was completely different. So... modern.

Unaware of his surroundings, the prince sauntered forward, not paying attention to where he was going - resulting in him crashing into a tiny pink hedgehog, who immediately plummeted to the ground.

He snapped back to reality, realizing he was the cause of the girl's entire basket of fruits tumbling down onto the floor ( _and_ her brutal fall) and knelt beside her immediately to assist her in picking them up.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely. "I didn't see you there. I should have watched where I was going. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's fine, it's okay," the girl mumbled back, frantically picking up her things and placing them back in her basket.

After helping her with her things, he glanced up to meet her eyes, and so did she, unintentionally making eye contact with the onyx prince.

And she dropped the apple she was holding in her hands when she did.

She tried not to let her jaw drop. He was _perfect._

Everything about him was. He was a black hedgehog with sleek red stripes running along his quills. Beautiful, ruby orbs staring back at her. His vest seemed to have flecks of real gold in them, not to mention the sash of gold running across it. Aside from that, he wore gold rings on his wrists and over his shoes. Most of all, he seemed to be glowing!

The pink female was absolutely baffled.

Unbeknownst to her, however, Shadow saw similar beauty in her.

The female was small and pink - almost fragile, in a sense - quills extending just underneath her chest; separated into a middle parting. She had stunning jade eyes and a tiny black button nose. She wore a simple red dress that ended right above her knees and small vintage black boots. Though, upon seeing her, the young prince couldn't help but feel a strange familiarity with her. It was almost he had knew her from somewhere.

It was clear that she was a poor girl from the village, and although the prince thought she had attractive features, he caught himself from staring.

"You are quite beautiful," he whispered, causing a blush to form on the rose hedgehog's cheeks before she looked away. "Where are you from?" he asked, forgetting himself.

It was Shadow the Hedgehog! The same prince who hadn't once thought he would ever fall for a woman's beauty. Especially not in the middle of a grocery store in a city outside the kingdom.

"Thank you, but there's no way you really think that," she bit her lip at the notion and stood to her feet. "I live in a village just outside Station Square, and I must go now, my mother must be waiting…"

Shadow stood to his feet as well, puzzled as to why the female had wanted to take off so quickly. "I apologize if I upset you. I had no intention of doing so," he told her, holding a hand out for her to take.

The girl stared at it for a second before placing her hand in his nervously. She then retracted it just as quickly. "Thank you… f-for helping me pick these up, I mean," she hesitated, before turning away from him and making her way out - until she felt a strong hand take hold of her wrist. The feeling of the male's touch made her cheeks redden.

"Wait," Shadow insisted, offering the girl a small smile. "Just tell me your name before you go?"

The rose hedgehog bit her lip. She glanced away for a second before returning her gaze to the onyx prince and blew her front quills out of her face.

"It's Amy. Amy Rose," she responded quietly, before finally taking off without another word.

Shadow just watched her leave with a mystified expression on his face.

' _What was that? I've never felt that way with a girl before. And I've never met her before in my life… right?'_ he thought with a small frown, rubbing the back of his head uneasily - once again, ignoring the ogling looks of the girls behind him, whose jaws were now hanging.

* * *

The rose hedgehog - Amy, as it was now disclosed, set her fruit basket down before knocking on the door to her little house out in the village. It was quite small, painted white while the roof remained a deep auburn colour, and seemed to be a one-storey home. Outside, however, it was surrounded by a small garden filled with a variety of different plants and colourful flowers.

An older purple hedgehog answered the door, inviting the girl inside by waving her hand upon seeing her. The door shut not too soon after that.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the whole ordeal, the onyx prince had been kneeling behind a nearby plant, watching and waiting to make his move.

As creepy as it sounded, he'd followed the pink female home, trailing his way after her discreetly; but only with sincere intentions. After having just met her and only knowing her name, something inclined him to learn more about the girl and further pursue his interest in her.

He had quickly taken to the fact that the rose hedgehog must have been impecunious, and had only wanted to help her with her living situation. After all, he _was_ the prince of Mobius.

When Shadow found the coast to be clear, he sauntered over to the nearest window of the house, failing to notice the little potted plant placed right beneath it - resulting in a loud _THUD_ , and a prince splayed on the ground; blinking and rubbing the back of his head in discomfort.

' _Crap,'_ he cursed silently. ' _Someone must have heard that.'_

Confirming his suspicions, a figure immediately appeared before the window and rolled it down.

Shadow blinked again, realizing it was the pink hedgehog he had run into at the grocery store standing by the window with worry and confusion. He sighed a breath of relief and pulled himself up to his feet, rubbing his cheek and the sore wounds from his rough fall.

The female's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my goodness! It's you! Did you follow me all the way here?!" she exclaimed, panic visible in her emerald eyes as her mouth hung open.

"No," he grunted, resting his arms on the window ledge while facing her, "Well, I mean, yes. But wait! I'm not here to hurt you. I only wanted to help," he defended, his lips curving into a small sympathetic smile.

Amy narrowed her eyes at the hedgehog in confusion. "Help me why? What makes you think I need it?" she argued, disbelieving of the very fact that the handsome black hedgehog from the grocers was standing before her.

Soon enough, she found her eyes seeking refuge in those of her intruder's. Her cheeks burned, remembering the effect looking into them had had on her previously. His ruby eyes were so compassionate, looking at her with such warmth, and glistening in the beaming sunlight that she had almost forgotten why she was angry with him in the first place.

"Well," he began, concealing a sigh. "You seem like you're not in the best of situations. Financially. Do you live alone?"

His response took the pink hedgehog by surprise. "You might come here looking all majestic and superior and all, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't know you. I don't know if I can trust you to tell you that information," she reminded breathlessly, a small frown making its way onto her face. She was starting to feel more comfortable discoursing with the onyx hedgehog.

Shadow leaned his face against his hand while propping his arm up against the side of the window, looking back at the girl casually. "I suppose that's fair. So how about we change that?"

The female cocked her head alarmingly at his implication, "What?"

"I would like to know more about you. I'll even tell you about myself. I'm new to the city and you're the first person I've met here," he explained, flashing her a warm smile. "May I come in?"

Amy pondered it with a blush, unsure if she wanted to let the stranger in or not. She fidgeted with her dress while thinking for about half a minute, before responding,

"I guess so. But only if you tell me your name and where you're from," she stated defiantly, blush never leaving her face. She then rolled the window down lower to make space for the black hedgehog to enter.

Shadow shifted in his position uncomfortably. "I'm Pr- Shadow," he started before widening his eyes in realization and cutting himself off. "Just Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog. And I come from… from the other side of that forest that extends till Station Square."

Amy looked down, seemingly mulling it over. "Isn't the Kingdom of Mobius way on the other side of that forest?" she questioned skeptically, unintentionally shooting him a scrutinizing look on his appearance.

Shadow stepped back, putting a finger to his face as if he was in thought. "No! I mean, yes, there is. But I'm from… the east. Knothole," he answered finally, picking up a rock from the ground and tossing it in his hand.

He didn't want to disclose to the girl that he was royalty just yet, if ever. He knew that if he did, she would have acted differently in his presence and might have even stopped talking to him; everything he didn't want.

Amy bit her lip as she listened to his reply.

She was hesitant at first. However, when she looked back to meet the stranger's eyes, she felt a strange sense of trust falling over her. "Alright, come in," she mumbled, gesturing for him to climb in.

The prince took her signal and climbed inside with ease. Once he did so, he dusted himself off and took a moment to get familiar with the surroundings.

Judging by the way the room was modeled, and the painting job, it was most likely a bedroom. _Her_ bedroom.

It was painted a subtle pink, a wardrobe and a dresser on either side of it, and a small bed in the middle of it all. It was pink, of course, like the overall theme of the room.

What Shadow noticed, however, was that the drawers were all pulled open, some of them emptied and the same with the wardrobe. He raised a brow, perplexed.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is your room. Right?" he asked her before taking a seat on the corner of the bed.

Amy looked around her so-called sanctuary, running a hand through her quills. "Why, yes, it is."

"What happened? Are you moving out?" he questioned, gesturing to the emptied drawers.

The rose hedgehog opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and frowned distantly. "I.. Well, not exactly. I was just finding things we could sell since we're… not in a great situation," she released a quiet sigh. "Like you guessed, we're not in the best financial situation. I'm trying to sell my wardrobe and other things that may not be… necessary. So we can get by with some more money."

She slowly made her way to the bed, taking a seat beside the black hedgehog.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her. "The house is quite pleasant. It seems like you have nice things in here. If I just noticed it I certainly wouldn't have guessed you'd be going through this kind of thing. What happened?"

Amy twirled her boot on the floor. "The man who gave us this house was a good friend of my mother's. He left some things behind so we could use them. And we got the house at a discounted price. We could never afford it on our own," she added sadly. "My mother makes a little money here and there by sewing clothes."

"And the pink paint and decoration?"

Amy flushed. "I like pink. The man who gave us the house had a little daughter who also loved it. Just a coincidence, I guess," she replied meekly.

"Amy? Is someone in there with you?" a voice rang out from the house, causing both hedgehogs to flinch and glance in the direction of the door.

"Is that your mother?" Shadow inquired, recalling the purple hedgehog woman he had seen earlier.

Amy cringed. "I forgot about her." Then, realizing what that sounded like, "I mean, I forgot she didn't know you were here."

Shadow nodded, watching as the pink female rushed to the door, opened it, and informed the older hedgehog that she was just talking to a friend in her room.

But as he watched intently, he felt his heart beat rapidly. Just watching the girl had sent sparks flying inside him. She was so ordinary, but so perfect. She had such beautiful features and seemed to be kind, compassionate, and good-natured. And, she lived with her mother.

"I saw her earlier. She is quite beautiful, just like you," he said to Amy once she returned, in turn, causing a blush to creep up on her cheeks once more. "Do you have any siblings?"

Amy winced at the question, leaning her arms against the dresser as Shadow eyed her. "Well…"

Shadow caught the look of uncertainty in her eyes and understood that something unfortunate might have happened to her. "You can tell me," he assured her.

The rose hedgehog blew her front quills out of her face, slumping. "We live alone. I was supposed to have an older sister, but when my mother was pregnant with her, her partner left her. My mother and the baby were barely getting by, and apparently after a couple years my sister got sick. Really sick. It was hard for my mother to get her proper treatment… couple more years and it got worse, and she passed," Amy sniffled. "I never got to see her. But after a few years, she had me."

The prince raised an eyebrow at the last of the girl's statement. "After a few years? Who's your father?"

The rose female frowned slightly. "Truth be told, I have no clue. I've asked my mother, but she's never given me a complete answer."

Shadow simply nodded, tilting his head to the side to observe the pink hedgehog more closely.

Amy caught his gaze in the dresser mirror, immediately spinning around to meet him face to face.

"Can I ask you something?"

The male was taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor but nodded. "Of course."

Amy's eyes sparkled at the response. "Is that… Are those… flecks of gold, are they real?" she questioned sheepishly, pointing to his silk vest.

He furrowed his brows at the question. He didn't want to lie, though he didn't want to show to the girl that he was above her in any way. Sighing, he gave her the most honest answer he could.

"They could be. My mother gave this to me when I was younger. She had it tailored to fit me and I've been wearing it ever since," he replied, looking down at the vest. Amy squinted at it to see it better.

She clasped her hands together and sat up on the dresser, adamant on changing the subject. "Well, how's Knothole?" a smile beamed off her. "How come you're here?"

"Well," Shadow hesitated. "It's nice. Broad, diverse. Bustling with activity, but not nearly as much as Station Square. I just wanted a change of scenery," he responded half-heartedly, disliking the ruse he had to play along with for god knows how long.

The pair continued to chat about their histories and families, ultimately learning more about each other - common interests, dislikes, etcetera. To Prince Shadow, it was a pleasant change to engage in conversations with a kind and down-to-earth outsider. Amy found herself enjoying the onyx hedgehog's company as well - and might have even considered him a friend - but oh, was she in for quite the bucket of surprises.

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ you didn't do anything to stop him," the elegant white hedgehog, Queen Victoria, shrieked at her husband, who was currently seated in his office with his head buried in his hands.

The king lifted his gaze to meet the sapphire eyes of his queen, very clearly quite perturbed himself.

"Victoria, I was not at all aware he was going to do this. If I was, you _know_ I would have stopped him," the older black hedgehog sighed in annoyance.

His wife slammed her hands down on the table beside him, causing him to flinch slightly. "What on Earth are you on about?! You knew he was talking about it! You knew of his plans. Yet, you didn't do anything to change his mind," she pointed out with irritation.

The king rubbed his temples. "I… I thought our nephew had it under control," he whispered, more or less to himself. "I never thought Shadow would do it."

His words had, however, struck a nerve in the snow-coloured queen.

" _Enough_! Enough with this bullshit!" the ivory sovereign snapped. "You didn't try hard enough to stop your son, because you wanted to see if he would actually escape the kingdom! And he has! You asked Sonic to change Shadow's mind but you can't change what's already there inside. _You_ never talked to your son or had a heart-to-heart with him, and that was _your_ decision! You've been close for _years_ , so what's happened? You say that you never think he'd actually listen to you, but you're his father, and you've just never cared enough to try!" she accused with distaste. "Have you ever given it thought that your relationship is paper thin because you've established the distance yourself?!"

The king's face fell immediately after hearing those words. His mind hurled through different emotions within the span of seconds. From pain, to anger, to confusion…

But most importantly, he was overcome by hurt. Not because his wife had said those things in fury, but because they were _true._

Every year, the father and son had grown farther apart. The loving bond was there of course, just not very prominent. King William hadn't intended to distance himself from his son - things had just become awkward between them once Shadow had begun mentioning his schemes of escaping the kingdom. They'd used to talk all the time, share secrets and give advice to one another. But now - now, the King could just feel himself drifting apart from his only son, Shadow.

The queen softened at the sight of her husband. "Wil-"

"Don't," he swallowed, raising a hand in front of him. "You're right. Of course you're right. I never talked to my own son because I didn't think he'd listen to me. What's left of our relationship is slowly deteriorating because I cannot find it in me to sit down with him. I asked Sonic to talk to him only because I couldn't do it myself," he admitted sadly, hanging his head guiltily. "And it didn't work. Of course it didn't work."

Victoria gave the king a look of sympathy and rested a hand on his shoulder, momentarily forgetting her anger with him. "You used to try to talk sense into him when he first started talking about the gate," she said softly. "What went wrong?"

The king sighed, leaning his head against his arm. "Truthfully, I don't know. We just… grew apart. I found it more difficult to connect with him," he responded, feeling terrible. "Now I don't know if we'll ever get him back."

"Don't say that. You've sent our finest knights in search of him. Sir Gawain will bring our son back," his wife assured him. "And heaven knows Shadow is well. He's always been able to look after himself."

The king sank in his velvet chair, still processing what had happened.

Meanwhile, two servants - a flying squirrel and rabbit - had been hunched over next to the door, peeking into the office where the king and queen conversed, silently eavesdropping on their conversation.

The rabbit turned to the squirrel in dismay.

"Do you think Prince Shadow will be okay?" she asked him, chocolate eyes widening from the revelation.

Ray, the flying squirrel, could only shrug. "I don't know, but I hope so," he answered. "It's best if we stay calm. Our prince would never do anything foolish, especially if he knew the consequences."

Cream frowned slightly. "It pains me to see our King and Queen in such distress. I hadn't known King William and Prince Shadow had problems," she murmured dejectedly. "And the outside world can be so dangerous."

The yellow squirrel placed a hand under the rabbit's chin, lifting it up gently so she could look at him. "Don't worry," he smiled. "Everything will be alright, and Prince Shadow will return safely. Possibly even with a girl," he joked, in hopes of raising the little rabbit's spirits.

Although in a downcast mood, Ray's little comment _had_ slightly cheered the girl up. And it was evident when her face visibly brightened.

A small smile spread on her face, "A girl? Never! We'd have to wait ten years before we saw our Prince bring home a girl," she giggled in response.

"Well, you never know," he replied with a laugh, grabbing Cream's arm and stalking off before anyone could catch them loitering by the door.

 _You never know._

* * *

 **A/N:** You might come to notice I love using the forest as a prime environment for the Sonic characters...

If you liked the chapter, though (or have any feedback!), be sure to leave a review!


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